DA close to sealing deal with ANC to be part of govt of national unity - Zille

Source: EWN Traffic
Author: Lindsay Dentlinger

CAPE TOWN - Democratic Alliance (DA) federal chairperson, Helen Zille, said she believed her party was close to sealing a deal with the African National Congress (ANC) that would see it form part of a government of national unity.

But with no signature on the dotted line just yet, Zille said it would be up to DA leader, John Steenhuisen, to decide whether the party would support ANC candidates put up for nomination on Friday for the crucial position of Speaker of the National Assembly and to back Cyril Ramaphosa as president.

The House will sit on Friday morning for its first sitting to form the seventh administration.

The sitting is underway in a makeshift parliamentary chamber at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) but there will undoubtedly be many weary eyes in the room.

Zille said the party's federal executive met twice on Thursday to thrash out a deal with the ANC, the second of those ending at 2am on Friday morning.

"We hope we're close. There is one paragraph still outstanding, and I hope that we will take it over the line. We can't leave very important words out when it's going to shape how the document unfolds in the future."

But Zille said that the DA's position on backing an ANC president remains unchanged until a deal was reached.

"We are going to have to work till the very last minute to get an agreement in place that we can all live with in good faith and that builds trust between the parties so that no party thinks they are having the wool pulled over their eyes."

Zille said that working with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) remained a no-no and her party will only form partnerships with parties which have the Constitution as its premise.